Technology plan one step closer to approval

By Noah Clark / Staff writer

Published: Wednesday, September 3, 2014 at 07:55 PM.

Bringing iPads and laptop computers into the classrooms of Lenoir County Public Schools got one step closer to becoming a reality when the Lenoir County Board of Education approved a measure to fund the plan.

Before the plan was approved, which will cost $983,699.20 each year of the lease with a .9 percent interest rate, board members asked Superintendent Stephen Mazingo fielded several questions about the plan before the vote.

Board member Garland Nobles asked where the money was coming from to fund the initiative.

Mazingo said not all of the money is “new money.”

“Most of the money we were already spending on things of an instructional nature such as textbooks,” he said. “Also, we were already buying technology, we were just buying different technology and putting it in labs where students could use it. This is providing the technology for all students instead of them always having to go to a lab.”

Mazingo said $250,000 of the money is being used instead of buying physical textbooks because the textbooks will now be on the devices. $300,000 is coming from federal funds that the district gets for technology, $250,000 is coming from indirect costs that mainly come from federal projects and the district can use some of that money for things such as the technology initiative. The bulk of the money, $400,000, is coming from Title I funds which are provided to schools for instructional purposed and is around 21 percent of the Title I allotment for grades K-5.

“Principals were very happy to give that up in exchange for this project,” he said. “It’s a smarter way to buy technology and instructional materials for students. We were already buying things, just different stuff. This is not all money that has come out of the air of that we are taking away from other projects. It’s repurposing money and spending it in a different way.”

Bringing iPads and laptop computers into the classrooms of Lenoir County Public Schools got one step closer to becoming a reality when the Lenoir County Board of Education approved a measure to fund the plan.

Before the plan was approved, which will cost $983,699.20 each year of the lease with a .9 percent interest rate, board members asked Superintendent Stephen Mazingo fielded several questions about the plan before the vote.

Board member Garland Nobles asked where the money was coming from to fund the initiative.

Mazingo said not all of the money is “new money.”

“Most of the money we were already spending on things of an instructional nature such as textbooks,” he said. “Also, we were already buying technology, we were just buying different technology and putting it in labs where students could use it. This is providing the technology for all students instead of them always having to go to a lab.”

Mazingo said $250,000 of the money is being used instead of buying physical textbooks because the textbooks will now be on the devices. $300,000 is coming from federal funds that the district gets for technology, $250,000 is coming from indirect costs that mainly come from federal projects and the district can use some of that money for things such as the technology initiative. The bulk of the money, $400,000, is coming from Title I funds which are provided to schools for instructional purposed and is around 21 percent of the Title I allotment for grades K-5.

“Principals were very happy to give that up in exchange for this project,” he said. “It’s a smarter way to buy technology and instructional materials for students. We were already buying things, just different stuff. This is not all money that has come out of the air of that we are taking away from other projects. It’s repurposing money and spending it in a different way.”

Nobles, along with board member Merwyn Smith, brought up concerns about the devices being lost, stolen or broken.

Brent Williams, the school system’s executive director of operations, said those were concerns valid.

“We are purchasing cases,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons we’ve tried to move quickly is because there currently is a promotion with Apple for a discounted price on cases. In doing our research, protecting the corners is key to protecting the devices.”

In regards to theft, Williams said there is nothing that can prevent someone from stealing the device, but there are features that can render the device useless if stolen. He said districts that have done that have seen a decrease in the number of thefts.

Williams said by doing a lease, the equipment will retain a third of its value after three years.

“Apple doesn’t buy back the devices, but they do partner with and recommend third party resellers and we’ve looked into that,” he said. “How it works, is that at the end of the third year a lot of school systems trade in the iPads and then are able to pay off the fourth year of the lease and start with a new lease for that cycle.”

After the discussion the board unanimously voted to approve the measure.

School Board Chairman Jon Sargeant said he believes the plan has two huge benefits for students.

“The main one is access to resources,” he said. “When I was in school, I had the school library and the downtown library. When we provide this technology to our students they are going to have access to every library in the world. The other thing is individualized learning. We all know this is how education has been going for years and this plan is going to help us take that to the next level.”

The next step will be getting approval of the plan from the Lenoir County Commission, something Mazingo expects to happen this month.

Noah Clark can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Noah.Clark@Kinston.com. Follow him on twitter @nclark763.